Funny Love For 'Latelys'
by Jen20
Summary: Buffy needs help. Willow has a problem. Xander and Anya are in pre-wedding blissfulness. Dawn is feeling ignored. Spike tries to help. Everyone turns to Tara with their problems. And on top of everything, a new evil comes to Sunnydale. Post-Tabula Rasa
1. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Author: Jennifer  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
Spoilers: Season 6  
Summary: Buffy's POV on nothing things.  
Author's Notes: Incredibly short. Pointless. But, hey, it's a prologue.

[prologue]  
LATELY, BLURRY AT FOUR 'O CLOCK  
  
  
__

***

_And I know it aches  
And your heart, it breaks  
You can only take so much_

***

Lately, she tires easily. When the itchy-ness starts behind her eyes and her vision becomes unfocused. That's when she knows she should go to bed - her nice, warm, soft bed.  
  
Her hands are dry these days. She can't afford the fancy moisturizing hand lotion that actually works anymore. The skin at the center of her palms, hard and rough. Years of gripping onto wooden stakes tend to do have that effect.  
  
Slayer. Slay-er. Sl-ay-er. S-uh-l-ae-err.  
  
Buffy. Bu-ffy. B-uhh-fee.  
  
The tiles are cold against her feet. Oh. Bathroom. That's where she is. She barely acknowledges herself turning on the faucet. Water runs through her hands, her nerves reacting the extreme chill. Splashing her face, she looks into the mirror.  
  
She blinks. This woman in front of her… This woman with tired eyes and oily skin… Lord, she's beyond pathetic now. She looks at her with blank look. Poor sad girl with the broken soul and shattered spirit. Who had done this?  
  
Oh, right.  
  
She did it.  
  
Eyes are itching now, until the urge to close them finally takes over. She blinks rapidly, not able to shake the incoming sleep off. So she resorts to the only thing left to do. Sleep. Sheep come out and she begins the counting. She hates it when she's tired but she can't get herself to a slumber.  
  
It's three fifty-six in the morning now. Darkness still looms outside.  
  
And, lately, her bed isn't so nice, warm, soft.

***

_Leave it behind…_

***


	2. Have You Any Wool?

**Author:** Jennifer  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.  
**Spoilers:** Season 6  
**Summary:** Willow vs. Willow  
**Feedback: **I'd love some. : )  
**Author's Notes:** None, really.  
  


***  
_"What are lungs for?"  
                        -Ro  
***_

FOR SCREAMING  
  


I've screwed up.  
  
Royally.  
  
All I wanted was for Tara to be happy again – for Buffy to be happy again. What's so horrible about that?   
  
Wiping out everyone's memories, including your own is horrible. Face it, Wills, nothing will the same. And you get a special bonus. Tara, the love of your adult life, gets up and leaves. And it's not her fault. It's all yours. You've brought this on yourself. Everything is just downhill, lately.  
  
Dawn isn't speaking to me, either. I ripped Buffy from happiness. I drove Tara away.  
  
Hey, but Xander isn't so extremely angry with you. Dependable Xander. He sees that you were just trying to help - even if you were just only trying to get rid of unpleasant memories instead of facing them. If you couldn't tell, that was thought sarcasm.  
  
Stop being so harsh. I was only trying to help.  
  
Trying to help whom?  
  
Buffy!  
  
What about Tara?  
  
_The wind swirls around her and flutters softly against her pale face. Her red hair dances in the breeze. Willow Rosenberg is her name. She sits on the dark rooftop silently as her mind battles. Sighing loudly in the night air, her green eyes heavy in concentration and contemplation._  
  
All this time Buffy was in Heaven –   
  
- And you took that away from her.  
  
No. I didn't know –   
  
- Didn't know, or didn't want to know?  
  
STOP it!  
  
What? You couldn't accept that your friend might've been happy…  
  
…I just wanted her back!  
  
And it never occurred to you that –  
  
- Why are you doing this to me?  
  
I'm you, why are you doing this to yourself?  
  
Stop.  
  
Did you think resurrection was an easy gig?  
  
STOP IT!  
  
You didn't think anything would go wrong did you? All the good Buffy had done in her life and you thought she was suffering in a hell –   
  
FUCK OFF!  
  
Oh, getting angry?  
  
_Eyes shut tightly. Tears streaming down her face. Hands clenched. A shout of anguish as thoughts bombard through her head before everything goes black. Then  
                                                she's  
                                                            falling…  
  
_I just wanted things to be okay again.  
  
Was it worth it?  
  
  
***  
_"Well, you need to breathe, don'tcha?"  
                                                - San_  
***

                                    __


	3. Y'ssir, Y'ssir, Three Bags Full

**Author: **Jennifer**  
Disclaimer: **I own nothing**  
Spoilers:** Season 6**  
Summary:** Anya and Xander. Wedding plans.  
**Feedback:** okay :)  
**Author's Notes:** I assure you, there will be a plot :D

A WEDDING, A BELL, AND A NECKLACE

  
***  
I'll never let you down  
Even if I could  
I'll give up everything  
If only for your good  
***  
  


The bell makes a dull clink sound when the door swings open. A frown settles upon Anya's face, crunching up her forehead. She couldn't place her well-manicured finger on what was wrong with the shop bell. Her thoughts of bells and money flutter away as her husband-to-be smiles at her. Nothing is important except for him, with his dark hair and big arms. Anya likes big arms. And she loves Xander. She barely notices the fifteen year old that enters in behind him.  
  
"Xander! Look at the pretty cakes in this magazine. We need to choose one that will be…" The shopkeeper trails off to look at the small scripted words before continuing, "'embedded into our memories along with the most idyllic day of our life.'"  
  
            She smiles when he is there by her side in a second, happily flipping through the thin, crinkly pages. It was then that Anya finally notices Dawn, standing at the steps of The Magic Box. But she doesn't dwell on it since she hears her fiancé chirp about the frosting decorations.  
  
"…big the cake would be, sweetie. Don't forget Uncle Lester, though."  
  
"Oh, is he the one who…"  
  
            Dawn doesn't process the rest of the happy couple's conversation as she turns to walk towards the bookshelf. Glancing around the room, she inconspicuously takes a brass necklace from the small table stands.  
  
"…brown from the chocolate would make the wedding cake…"  
  
            The teenager flips her hair back and she starts for the door. She pauses to look back at Xander and Anya, oblivious to all around them, guilt flashes across her face for a brief second. Then, she walks out the door, the bell creating a monotonous sound.  
  
"Oh! Look at the cute little plastic couple on top!" her delighted squeal produces a smile on his face. He would do anything for her. She's the love of his life. She's the one. And in his mind, he knew everything would be okay for them. Screams of worry were muffled a lot as of late. Hardly, he could hear them anymore. And it was okay.  
  
            But part of him knew he was ignoring something. Something that seems to yell "IMPORTANT!" He just can't pin-point what _something_ is… It doesn't matter though, right now, all he needs to be is happy, wedding planning fiancé. He just needs to be himself and in love. And that is what he's doing.  
  
_Cluuung_  
  
The door opens and a middle-aged man enters.  
  
            Xander thinks about Anya and wedding cakes. Anya thinks about Xander, shop bells, wedding cakes, and money.  
  
"…there! On page 78, there's this…"  
  


  
***  
_You won't always be there  
So love me when I'm gone  
Love me when I'm gone…  
***_


End file.
